Selling Privately - Purplebricks

[reens09]

Originally Posted by good2know

My immediate family has sold 6 properties on Grapevine without any agents involved at all.

The timelines ranged from 24 hrs to 10 days.

The most showings we did was 3.


When agents called, our response was that if a buyer wanted an agent, they could pay the fees per the Buyer Agency Agreement mentioned above.

Every sale also set a new price standard for the neighborhood and model.

If your home is prepared properly for showings a real estate agent is not needed. They serve no purpose other than to bring an offer. Then try to negotiate a price reduction.

I think your family is very lucky, but perhaps it is also the properties they had that made them more desirable. Most people dont have it that easy selling themselves, regardless of the staging. it is well known that agents avoid those listings, i have heard it from several agents including friends who do it for a living. Considering the majority of buyers use one, that purpose of bringing an offer aka a client is the sole reason why sellers get an agent. Agents have connections and networks amongst themselves to promote properties.

That being said, if you are not in a rush, it does not hurt to try it for a few months and if you dont have luck, then get one. that is what we did. we tried through grapevine, did not get a single hit, then used an agent and sold. worth nothing that there was not one single change made to the staging of our house between the two processes.

[good2know]

Im actually delighted when agents dont come. I dislike talking to them.

They are not providing any service to a seller that cant be done another way.

Their fees are ridiculous for what the actually do especially in a hot market.

Your experience is very different from ours for sure. Property condition, price and location are key factors.

I like buying houses on grapevine without an agent. I like the ability to speak directly with the seller.

[reens09]

Originally Posted by good2know

Im actually delighted when agents dont come. I dislike talking to them.

They are not providing any service to a seller that cant be done another way.

Their fees are ridiculous for what the actually do especially in a hot market.

Your experience is very different from ours for sure. Property condition, price and location are key factors.

I like buying houses on grapevine without an agent. I like the ability to speak directly with the seller.

Oh i couldn't agree more. it is like with any sales person, their main interest is their profit, not profiting you. And it does suck to have to cough up that much money. i will say that our agent had his work cut out for him, our place was hard to sell, it took 6 months with 30+ showings, and he got us what we wanted, so he did earn his fee, but when a place goes up through an agent and sells the same day... thats when i wish i was in that industry lol

[Camoki]

It's actually against the code of ethics for a real estate agent not to show a property because of no commissions. Why a buyer would even stand for that, I don't know.

[reens09]

Originally Posted by Camoki

It's actually against the code of ethics for a real estate agent not to show a property because of no commissions. Why a buyer would even stand for that, I don't know.

Well they are not exactly telling their clients this lol but when the agent is looking for properties to potential show they can omit those ads. If a buyer found the property it would be different but alot of buyers also dont want to be stuck paying the fee for the seller.

[good2know]

In the end, the buyer is paying all the real estate fees.

Peoples acceptable sell price is based on the fees coming off the top.

[reens09]

Originally Posted by good2know

In the end, the buyer is paying all the real estate fees.

Peoples acceptable sell price is based on the fees coming off the top.

True even if the seller loses money in the ends its still built in.

[lex_rx]

I only sold a house once on Grapevine in 2010. We "sold" on the same night that the Grapevine sign went up on our property. However, since we already prepared for a showing on the following weekend, we went ahead as planned and got more offers, a couple of them without conditions. A few agents contacted us and we played nice with them but politely telling them that we did not require their services just yet. There was one potential buyer who had an agent and came to view the house as well.

If the homeowner is comfortable with staging, preparing for open house, etc. homeowner can do on their own through Grapevine or similar services. However, I'm pretty sure that there will those who would want to outsource that work to agents.

[hampt]

Originally Posted by lex_rx

I only sold a house once on Grapevine in 2010. We "sold" on the same night that the Grapevine sign went up on our property. However, since we already prepared for a showing on the following weekend, we went ahead as planned and got more offers, a couple of them without conditions. A few agents contacted us and we played nice with them but politely telling them that we did not require their services just yet. There was one potential buyer who had an agent and came to view the house as well.

If the homeowner is comfortable with staging, preparing for open house, etc. homeowner can do on their own through Grapevine or similar services. However, I'm pretty sure that there will those who would want to outsource that work to agents.

Did you accept buyers with agents? or negotiated only with clients that came without agents?

[good2know]

I spoke with Jeff Usher at Grapevine yesterday. Things have changed considerably since we last used them. They no longer have an option with no mls listing.

In fact they are encouraging people to use buyer agents.

There is no longer a service available for true private no agent sales. (kijiji works I guess) There are lots of ads there.

Other tidbits ( all part of the misinformation used to encourage agent use)

- people are too busy to search for homes on their own
- agents wont show a home with reduced commission rates

Grapevine has become nothing more than a reduced listing fee broker. They do offer services inside the flat fee structure - photos, process discussions, paperwork, staging advice - that many will find helpful.

The purple bricks web site is much better than Grapevines current offering.

The Grapevine we used is no longer available. I dont recommend it at this time and I think purplebricks is much better on the surface. Ive never used it though.